Tag Archives: clock radios

Then And Now And Still To Come

Early 1960’s clock radio

Just got a new iPhone, and it made me think back to a time when “clock radios” were a thing. When they first put a clock and a radio in the same plastic box. If you were lucky, the clock had an alarm. The radio, of course, was AM only. Prior to that, a radio, was just a radio, and a clock, was just a clock. Plugging it into the wall was your only option. Portable “transistor” radios had yet to be invented.

Found this relic pictured above for sale on ebay for $20. Same one I had as a boy, although I don’t remember any “snooze” button feature on mine. At the time, that was pretty advanced stuff.

As I recall, most of the time I had the AM dial set to “KDWB-63” our big daytime rocker out of Minneapolis/St. Paul. At night, we’d switch over to WLS, booming out with 50,000 watts from Chicago. Came in clear as a bell once the daytimers dropped their power.

You have to wonder who even understands any of this anymore. Imagine starting with an iPhone as a kid. God knows what they’ll be using in 50 or 60 years. It’s both wonderful and frightening to try and comprehend as technology continues rocketing ahead, in some ways outstripping our ability to control where it may be taking us. Stay tuned for further developments. Same time, same channel. Or maybe from a chip implanted in your head.